'Still, people are asking why we have not gone for a full-out war. As a military man, if ordered, I will go to war, but that will not be my first choice'
A 67-year-old Indian-origin nurse, Leela Lal, was severely beaten by a patient at a Florida hospital, leaving her with multiple facial fractures and potentially losing her eyesight. Stephen Eric Scantlebury, the 33-year-old patient, allegedly made racially charged comments during the attack, leading to a hate crime enhancement in his charges. Lal's injuries are described as critical, with "essentially every bone in the victim's face" broken. Scantlebury remains jailed, with a judge ruling him a danger to the community.
The Manipur government on Sunday extended the suspension of mobile internet for two days in nine districts of the state till December 3.
A strong demand was made in the Lok Sabha to eliminate online betting and gambling applications. YSRCP member Maddila Gurumoorthy urged the government to set up a dedicated task force to take action against betting and gambling apps. He also asked the government to draft regulations for such applications and launch awareness campaigns about the dangers of online betting. Other issues raised included deposit insurance coverage for bank depositors, representation of Scheduled Castes in the Kerala government, challenges faced by nurses, and the need for paramilitary forces in Jharkhand during upcoming Hindu festivals.
The association said that 25 states have laws on attacks on doctors and hospitals but these are mostly ineffective on the ground and do not serve the purpose of deterrence.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also flagged a few heinous instances of unruly behaviour by people where the families and relatives of medical professionals, suspected to have died due to COVID-19 infection, were prevented from performing the last rites of the deceased.
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after the May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a group of men from the other side.
'When so many young Baloch men and women are willingly volunteering as fighters and even suicide bombers.'
In a communication sent to all heads of central government hospitals, the ministry asked them to ensure adequate number of well secured duty rooms with basic amenities for female health professionals and deployment of women health professionals at night be preferably done in more than one in number.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'benign intervention' to bring a central law to check violence against healthcare personnel and declare hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements.
Kolkata Police on Friday said it has so far arrested 19 people in connection with the vandalism and violence at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in the metropolis.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday appealed to Naxals to give up violence, lay down arms and surrender, saying an all-out operation will otherwise be carried out against them.
Night patrolling on hospital premises and regulating access for people to key areas are among the measures the Centre has asked states to implement to ensure the safety of medics at workplaces, following Supreme Court orders in the rape-murder case of a junior doctor in Kolkata.
Non-emergency services, such as OPD and diagnostics, and elective surgeries at city-based health facilities, including at Centre-run AIIMS, Safdarjung hospital and RML hospital, are hit since Monday.
The IMA feels that there is a dire need for a drastic change in health administration which can be realised by raising a new cadre of administrators, it said in a statement.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which had taken cognisance of the incident, has kept the matter on top of the cause list for hearing at 10:30 am on Tuesday.
The government on Saturday said a committee will be formed to propose safety measures for healthcare professionals even as OPD services were hit across the country as doctors joined the 24-hour nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the alleged rape and murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata.
Several Bangladeshis, who have come to Kolkata either for medical treatment or education or other purposes, are now stranded in the city and concerned about the ongoing violence and abrupt change of regime in their country.
Terming Naxals the biggest human rights violators, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said security forces have been carrying out 'offensive operations' instead of defensive against the insurgents and have achieved big successes in recent times.
According to the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear on Tuesday.
The Madhya Pradesh high court in Jabalpur on Saturday directed protesting doctors in the state to call off their strike over the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata immediately, and return to work.
The MHA said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.
The Indian Medical Association has announced a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency services from 6 am on August 17 to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee woman doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and the subsequent vandalism at the facility.
The respondents were from over 22 states with 85 percent of them being under 35 years while 61 percent were interns or postgraduate trainees.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
The strike will continue following the tragic incident at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, it said.
The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala on Wednesday approved an ordinance that provides for stringent punishment, including imprisonment of up to seven years and a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for those found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to doctors, medical students, and others working in the health services sector in the state.
In a joint statement, they noted that while the incident highlights the prevailing "apathy, misgovernance and lack of accountability" in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, the state government's "apparent inclination" to shield perpetrators rather than protect victims is a "grave miscarriage of justice".
Ending the logjam persisting for 42 days in the wake of the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar hospital, the agitating medics withdrew the 'cease work' after holding a march to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Salt Lake in Kolkata from the state health department's headquarters, where they had been demonstrating for over a week.
'Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue of a caste census though his party has been doing injustice on this front from the 1950s.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she did not threaten junior doctors at state-run hospitals, who have been continuing cease-work for 21 days now to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic. Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, Banerjee had on Wednesday urged the agitating junior doctors of Bengal to urgently consider returning to duty and said she doesn't want to lodge first information reports (FIRs) against the striking doctors in consideration of their future careers.
'To everyone voting for Trump, I have only this simple question: Would you let him have lunch with your daughter or sister or wife or mother?' 'Then why would you let him have our lunch (and so much more) for four more years?', asks Sree Sreenivasan.
In a video clip that had gone viral on social media, Faizan, along with four other Muslim men, was seen being beaten up by policemen while being forced to sing the national anthem and 'Vande Mataram'.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal as junior doctors continued their cease-work protest.
Terming the rape and murder case of a medic at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as horrific, the Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the West Bengal government over delay in filing first information report (FIR) in the matter.
The panel headed by Justice (retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi has submitted its report to the government, calling for an exhaustive overhaul of the law.
The ATRs have been sought on a range of matters within four weeks, the officials said.
The proposed committee, to be headed by the secretary of medical education, would study various issues raised by postgraduate students and house surgeons and submit a report within one month, health minister Veena George said.
